Improvement in rotary engines



NITE) STATES PATENT rtree.

WILLIAM HINDS, OF LITTLE FALLS, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN ROTARY ENGINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 43,690, (lated August2, 1864; antedatcd July 25, 1864. p

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HiNns, of Little Falls, county of Herkimer,and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin the Rotary Steam-Engine and Rotary Pump; and I hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the constructionand operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, makinga part of this speciiication, and to the letters ofreference marked thereon. v

The invention of an efieient and powerful rotary steam-engine that willcompete with the reciprocating engine has hitherto baffled the skill ofall inventors. There are two very formidable difficulties that beset theproduction of this desideratum, one of which is working the pistonstransversely to or in lateral directions from that in which the drivingcylinders or drums are rotated. The other 1s the difficulty of packingengines to make them steam tight without creating considerable frictionin doing it. v

To remedy these evils is the purpose of my invention. In the former caseI have discovered and employed devices that abate a large portion of thefriction. In doing this, however, I have been compelled to lengthen thesteam-joint some, considerably beyond that of the reciprocating engine,and perhaps other rotaries. For this, however, there will be an offsetthat will compensate for some of it, produced from using packing thathas but little exposed surface for the steam to act upon; consequentlyweaker springs can be used that will make lighter contact and lessfriction.

To enable others to make and use my invention, I will now describe itsconstruction and operation.

Figure l of the drawings is a perspective view of the entire engine.Fig. 2 is a vertical section made through the center of one cylininderand drum at right angles to the axis of the rotating drum. Fig. 3 is theseat for the steam-valve to Work in. Fig. 4. is the steam valve or gateshown under side up. Fig. 5 is a cross-section of the valve seat.

The same kind of letters refer to like parts throughout.

The parts marked A are cylinders formed on perfect circles, and areconnected at theinner ends by the dividing-plate C, which has flan geson either side to lock over the ends of the cylinders. a are ports thatshould extend down on either side nearly or quite to the ccnter of thepiston. (Shown by the red lines in Fig. 2.) The object of extending theports down to the point indicated is to prevent the steam from reactingor acting back against one end of the piston before it has ceased to acton the other end, and to limit the action of the steam to the under halfof the rotating drum, where the pistons present the largest surface forthe steam to act against.

B are the cylinder-heads, constructed with flanges on the inside,(similar to those on the plate 0,) and lock over the ends of thecylininders A, and are secured thereto by the bolts b, Fig. l. Thecylinder-heads B have feet at the bottom to bolt them to platforms,timbers, or frame-work Where they are designed to be used.

a is the shaft to which the drums are secured, and H is the drivingpulley. rIhe shaft turns in boxes (not shown) that can be raised, byknown devices to keep the drums in coutact with the cylinder to preservea cut ofi.

F is the cylinder that goes to form the rotating drum. The cylinder-headat one end is cast with the cylinder. The cylinder-head at the other endis cast separate from the cylinder, and is tted to and locks over theend of the cylinder into rabbets formed for that purpose. The loose headis secured in the drum by bolts that pass through the loose head andscrew into the fast one, or ilan ges or projections may be made in theinside of the cylinder to secure the loose head to. The drum has slotsthrough it on opposite sides for the piston D to work in. The piston-sare of a width to loosely fill the spaces between the heads of thcrotating drums, except at the out ends, where a width equal to thelength of the drums are required to permit so much of the ends of thepistons as come into contact with the steam to come into contact withthe heads of the cylinders A and dividing-plate G. At the fpacking-pieces to keep them constantly in a radial position with thecylinders A. Underneat h the packing-bars are springs of suflicient Is`ide in and out.

E are a kind of segment of a width to loosely fill the spaces betweenthe drum-heads and turn over the t'ulcrums or points at gin groovesformed in the cylinders of the drums for that purpose. The circular endsofthe segments are made from the points at g. On these ends of thesegments are narrow teeth or eogs (marked e) of just sufficient strengthto prevent thev segments from slipping on the valve while the engine isat work, any vibratory motion being prevented by the grooves inwhich thepoints of the segments work. The use of these segments is to support andcon- .ie the pistons to a proper line of action without bearing in or onthe ways orjaws forming t'le slots in the drums. At f are lightpackingbars resting in grooves in the jaws of the drums, and are kelt incontact with the pisY tons by springs under their bottom edges toprevent the steam from passing into the drums.

It will be noticed that the cylinder7 drum, and piston, &c., are oftenmentioned in the plural number. The reason to be assigned for this isthat there two cylinders, two drums, aid two pistons, making the enginedouble in most respects. The object ot' so making them is to regulatethem for a constant and equal pressure from thc steam at all times andavoid any weak or dead points. To do this the pistons in the twochambersare set crosswise or at right angles to eachother, as shown in Fig. 2.rlhe propriety of this may be seen from the position of the two pistons.The one shown in black lines presents in that position the largest areaof surface for the steam to act upon, while the piston in the otherchamber (shown by the red lines) presents but half the area ofsteam-surface. The steam entering on either side of the cut oft willpress on either end of the piston and will rotate the drum in eitherdirection. While the end of the piston shown by red lines is passingfrom the narrowest point to the widest point ofthe steamchannel, the endof the piston at the widest point will be passing to the narrowestpoint, thereby keeping the average area of the steam- `bearing surfaceof the pistons equal at all points throughout their entire revolution,and thus rendering y-wheels wholly unnecessary.

Fig. 3 is a valve-seat. I is the bottom thereot', forming with theelevated sides and partitions a chamber or recess for the valve toworkin, and-forming also the chambers I, that extend through the bottomplate and rest over ports of the same size in the cylinders.

L is a port to admit the steam, andi are ports' opening horizontallythrough the side elevations to permit the ingress of the steam into Vthechambers I, and from thence into the cylinders. The ports t are only ofabout halt1 the size of the ports through the cylinders.

a are pins through the seat, the lower ends ot' which serve in holes inthe cylinders to steady the seat thereon. The upper ends serve in holesthrough the cope M to hold that in place.

Fig. 4 is the steam-valve, shown bottom side up. As shown, it presentselevated sides and a cross-partition near to the letter J of a depth tocorrespond with the sides of the seat. The sidesl ofthe valve work'within the sides of the seat, and come in contact on the lines-betweenthe letters t' and j, as shown in the cross-section, Fig. 5.

J is the top plate ot' the valve, and works over the chambers I to closeand open them as their uses shall require. The sidesof the valve havealso ports t' through them to correspond with the ports t' in the sidesof the seat.

v It are ports for the escape of the steam after it has acted into thechamber formed by the cope M, from whence it escapes throughtheexhaust-port N. The cope M and port N embodied therewith are secured tothe seat by the bolts m, which pass through the cope and seat and screwinto the cylinders. The valve and the seat and cope, between which thevalve works, are iitted steam-tight at all points where they worktogether, in order to permit no steam to escape except what passesthrough the ports. The movement ofthe valve is limited at one end bycoming in contact with a kind of ledge over the port L, (line o, Fig.3,) and at the other end by flanges extending downward from the plate Joutside ofthe elevated sides of the seat, and stops against thepartitions forming the chambers I.

The valve is operated by the lever K, that has a rightangular turnupward to work through a slot in the plate J, Fig. l. In the valve-seatare four chambers and four ports opening into them. In the valve arelikewise four ports to correspond with the ports in the sea-t. Thechambers and ports are so arranged that moving the valve to one end ofthe seat closes the ports and' opens the chambers at that end, while atthe other end the ports are opened and the chambers closed, so thatremoving the valve to the other end of the seat completely reverses thewhole order of the arrangement, and by shifting the valve from end toend of the seat throws the steam into the cylinders on either side ofthe cut-0H, causing the engine to run in either direct-ion with equalfacility. The direction ofthe steam out of the chamber of the valve intothe chambers I, and from thence into the cylinders, is more clearlyshown by the arrows in red. (See cross-` section, Fig. 5.)

To convert the engine into apump requires only that the drums andpistons shall be rotated by a power applied "to the shaft. For thispurpose the valve may be removed and ports made directly into thecylinders, or cylinder, as only one may be needed in some cases.

The improvements that may be claimed t0 constitute the usefulness ofthis invention are doing away with a great portion of the friction andavoiding any Weak or dead points in .its action, making the engine torun with equal power throughout its entire revolution. y

What I claim as my invention, and wish to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States, 1s

l. The construction and arrangement of the segments E, that guide andcontrol the piston D, so as to avoid contact or frictionwith the slotsor ways in which the piston moves.

2. Constructing the piston D` with a. slot through it to work over theshaft while it is moving across the cylinder.

3. The steam-valve made with a single port for the admission of steaminto the chamber of the valve to be ejected from thence through a seriesof ports into the chambers I, and from thence into the cylinders, fromwhence it escapes through the chambers I and ports h into f the chamberM, and exhausted through the port N, al1 of which is constructedsubstantially as and for the purposes set forth in the specification.

WM. HINDS.

Witnesses:

R. D. O. SMITH, ANDREW WHI'LELEY.

